


Insurgence

by ivarara



Series: Maxis [29]
Category: Warframe
Genre: local moron tries to write multichapter fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23209774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivarara/pseuds/ivarara
Summary: Someone's feeding the enemy intelligence. It's not who you'd expect.
Series: Maxis [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1252910
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**ch 1 of _Insurgence!!_**

[[MORE]]

. 1 .

“We’ve received intel that there’s an abandoned Sentient structure somewhere in Veil Proxima. We will fly you six out there, and your mission is to investigate the structure and retrieve anything that may be useful to our cause.”

Max nods. Next to her, Tinleah nods as well. The other four respond with grunts and huffs of affirmation.

Tinleah is new to the crew. Zus had, reluctantly--not out of dislike, but concern for her safety--granted her permission to join the Hounds under his watchful eye. ‘She won’t get any slack like you do,’ he had warned. ‘You won’t be able to bail her out if something happens on her terms. You’re not responsible for her.’ Max knows her better than anything else (bar Hush, maybe) and trusts her completely with her life. Tinleah brought Pulsar, her Mag Prime, for the mission: Magnetize proved efficient against the war machines. With Hush’s Artemis Bow, it would take out even stronger Sentients with a few volleys.

The other three were run-of-the-mill Grineer soldiers. Kitt, whose grumpy and gruff attitude reminded Max of a sterner version of Dodge, stayed quiet, for the most part. When he did communicate, it was nonverbal. Roo seems lighter, joking and asking questions to the two Tenno next to him. Easy-going, trustworthy, and reliable, he seems. Colakk, the newest recruit, did nothing but brood. Max couldn’t understand how someone could live in that state of mind. Always glowering at something, short and curt answers to any questions or comments made. _To each their own, I guess._

And then there was Buffy.

Colakk speaks up. “I don’t see why we need _two_ traitors with us,” he growls, glaring at Max and Tinleah. “A normal squad could handle it.” Roo throws a malicious glare at him.

“If you come across Sentients, which is possible, a ‘normal squad’ would not be able to handle it. We want this done as quickly as possible to avoid encounters by as much as possible, and two Tenno are more than enough to deal with any enemies we come across.” Zus is calm, almost droning a response.

“Damn kids,” Kitt mumbles to himself. Roo glares at him sternly.

“I could handle this myself with a big enough gun,” Colakk continues. “I don’t need--”

“The Grineer lack guns big enough to handle Sentients effectively,” Zus sighs. “Hopefully, when you infiltrate the structure, you’ll find technology that can help us develop better armaments.” he says with finality.

Colakk huffs, but stays quiet.

 _“Approaching Sentient outpost,”_ the pilot of the crewship calls out. _“Ready for ramsled launch.”_

Max frowns. Ramsleds are hot and cramped and rickety. They land with a hard impact that jostles her brain in her skull. Being packed with four others, two of whom seem to not be fond of the two girls, seems like punishment for a crime she didn’t know she committed.

After Transfering into Hush, as Tin does with Pulsar, they pack in. There’s only five proper seats, so Tinleah and Maxis share a seat, much to the safety code’s dismay, and Buffy takes the seat next to them. They all have to sit hunched over with their knees to their chests for how little space there is. The buckles are strapped on, though the Operators’ sits awkwardly.

“Remember what I said,” Zus speaks to the pod’s opening, leaning over to poke his head in. “In, investigate, out. Stay together.” He looks at Colakk. 

The initial launch is jostling. Everyone jerks against the safety buckles as the pod rockets out of the side of the crewship. Tinleah reflexively locks arms with Max, and Buffy offers his to cling on to.

“You’re not used to rough rides?” Roo jitters out.

Tinleah shakes her head. “The Orbiter is...considerably smoother. Even when launching.”

Kitt glares. “Get used to it.”

Buffy clears his throat in warning.

At the speed they’re traveling after being propelled off the ship, it only takes a few minutes to reach the Sentient outpost. They collide with the ground with a neck-snapping blast, leaving Tinleah sitting wide-eyed as the other five remain passive.

“That’s just how it lands.” Kitt gruffs. 

The six of them exit the ramsled and look around. The structures do appear ancient, and strangely Sentient in their own way. Red energy pulses throughout the walls, the doors glow menacingly where they sit closed. The lighting is dim, only provided by outside stars in the System nearby.

“Let’s go,” Buffy chips. “I’m ready to kill some machinations of old times.” 

Tinleah and Max walk side-by-side in front of Buffy. Kitt and Roo follow behind, and Colakk brings up the rear.

“There’s newer forms of Sentients here,” Max warns. “There’s typical, slightly-altered Battalysts and Concluysts, some buff Vomvalysts that we can overall ignore, Symbalysts, and Brachiolysts. Symbalysts pack a heavy arm-cannon that can knock even Tinleah and me out. Brachiolysts are pretty simple, since they can’t adapt to damage.”

“Why’s that?” Roo asks.

“A lotta people think it’s because they’re juvenile Sentients. They don’t have cores or anything. You guys could take them out, but they’re very erratic with moving.”

“Pulsar could help with that,” Tineah offers. “Magnetize increases the range they can take damage from.”

Max nods. “Wait for her to Magnetize them, or for Hush to sleep them before firing.”

⁂

“Where’s Colakk?” Roo suddenly asks.

“Great. He wandered off, the aloof bastard,” Kitt sighs.

Buffy grunts. “We should go after him, I suppose.”

“Let’s leave him,” Roo pipes. “Nobody likes him.”

“We can’t do that,” Max scolds.

Tinleah giggles.

“Where do you think he would have gone?” Roo asks.

“Probably off to where the action is,” Buffy responds. “He’s going straight to the heart of the fortress to find the Sentients.”

“He’s gonna get wrecked,” Max snorts.

“He deserves it.” Kitt comments with sincerity.

As they head further into the Sentient structure, there’s a surprising lack of Sentient forces. No erie humming, no flashing lights, no attacks. Just the quiet.

“I don’t like this,” Roo whispers to the girls. “It’s too quiet.”

Max hums.

As if on cue, Colakk comes barreling through one of the doors as it warps open.

“It’s an ambush!” He shouts. “They led us straight into a damn ambush!”

Roo balks. “Really?”

Gunshots ring out as the door opens again. Four Tenno in their Warframes come through, aiming for the six of them.

“Yes, really!”

“Get to extraction,” Buffy barks. “I’d rather we don’t investigate than we don’t return at all.”

They haul off, bullets pinging off the walls and ground near them. Buffy lets himself fall to the back of the pack, where the bullets that strike true are absorbed and bounce off his thick armor.

Kitt yelps as a bullet slices into his arm. He fumbles and slows, but Roo is quick to catch him, slinging his uninjured arm across his own shoulders, and hauling him off at full speed.

As they get to extraction and wait for the crewship, the able-bodies turn around and fire at their pursuers. Hush puts a cloak arrow around them, while Pulsar attempts to strip their armor and stagger them before they get too close. Buffy, with his heavy gun, knocks one to their feet with a powerful blow. Roo protects Kitt, while Colakk takes to hiding behind the two Tenno and firing occasional volleys when he decides to peer around them.

When the ship comes and they board, Zus is quick to ask questions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The discussion.

“What happened?”

“Ambushed,” Buffy grunts. “There was a full squad of other Tenno there.”

“So, the intel was faulty?”

“I don’t think it was faulty,” Max interjects. “I think it was fed to us at a convenient time. They knew we’d want to get right out there to search.”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

Dodge is already heading over with a kit in hand.

“We’re getting to the bottom of this. Who was it that provided the intel?”

“Tinleah. She’d been there before. She--”

“Figures!” Colakk blurts. “The new recruit, the new traitor to their cause, is the one to lead us into harm.”

“Tinleah wouldn’t do that,” Max snaps. “She didn’t know.”

Tinleah shakes her head, eyes narrowed. “Who’s to say it wasn’t you? You’re the one that ran off as soon as we landed. You probably went and notified them that we were there, then ran back and faked being fearful.”

Colakk snarls. “I did not--”

“Shut up!” Roo blurts. He catches himself after a moment. “Please.”

“Roo is right. Arguing will get us nowhere.” Zus sighs deeply. “Once Kitt is taken care of, we’ll have a meeting to discuss this. Until then, no talk of it. Consider it a classified case.”

⁂

The room is dimly lit, shadows creeping further and further over everything they can. They’re sat at a makeshift interrogation table, still with pieces of armor and guns laying upon it.

The girls are purposefully separated for this. Kitt sits between them. Roo is on Max’s other side, while Buffy is on Tinleah’s right. Roo looks worried. Kitt is worn out from his injury, likely on the verge of dozing off as he sits upright. Colakk is, as per usual, scowling.

Zus enters and stands at the head of the table. He sets a stack of papers and a tablet down on the table’s surface.

“We’re here to discuss the events that took place yesterday.”

Everyone is silent.

“Again. Who gave us the intel?”

“I did,” Tinleah speaks.

“Were you aware there would be other Tenno there?”

“Absolutely not,” she answers honestly.

Colakk inhales to speak.

“Do not,” Zus barks. “I am not speaking to you.”

“Where did you get the information?”

“I heard about it just as I joined. Literally, the day before, I was in my Orbiter and the radio chatter came in. That’s how I heard.”

“Were they aware you had heard?”

“No, sir. I wasn’t speaking to them.”

Roo raises a hand. Zus nods to him. “If I may: we do the same thing nearly every day. We listen in to radio chatter to hear about Corpus movements and how the other Grineer counterparts are fairing.”

“Fair point,” Zus responds.

Max speaks. “So, if Tinleah was just listening in, how would they have known we’d be there? Someone else would have had to contact them to let them know we’d be going.”

“Good question,” Kitt sneers. “There’s a span of time after she heard the chatter and before she joined. Plenty of time for her to call and alert them.”

“Why in the hell are you so deadset that I’d try to mess something up as soon as I got it?” Tin shouts. “I have a family now! I’m with Max! Why would I want to screw that up?!”

“Because you have nothing to lose,” Colakk snarls.

“I believe her,” Roo interjects. “I’m with Maxis on this: I don’t think Tinleah did it.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Colakk points to Roo furiously. “You’re not a fighter. You’re naive. Max and Tinleah have coddled you, so why would you hate them? Why would you hate your friends?”

Max coughs. “That’s literally how friendship works.”

Tin huffs. “He wouldn’t know anything about it.”

Roo smiles at her and winks.

“Could it have been someone outside of the squadron?” Buffy asks. “Nobody else besides command knew of it, really.”

“So, it had to be someone in the group,” Roo deducts as his face drains of color.

Eyes flash around the room as everyone waits for a reaction. Eventually, all eyes settle on Colakk.

His own eyes widen. “I’m a flesh and blood Grinner soldier! Why would I betray my own?!” He slams his fists on the table. “We’ve got two _defects_ sitting here; why aren’t we suspecting them?”

“Tinleah has something to lose. So does Max,” Buffy reasons. 

“But for them, a charge would result in eviction,” Kitt continues. “They’d simply be kicked out of the squadron and the cause. If any of the Grineer soldiers was to blame, they’d be executed on the spot.”

“A lot of soldiers already don’t value their lives much. To get this high up in the stream means they have something to live for,” Roo counters. “Why get this far and crash it all to the ground?”

“Maybe someone’s working with that defector in Steel Meridian,” Kitt says. “They’d do anything to take the Grineer as a whole down to ‘save’ any other defects.”

“Maxis?” Zus asks.

Her gut drops. “Yes, sir?”

“You had a former association with Steel Meridian, did you not?”

“A long time ago, yes. Back when I still worked under the Lotus and with the other Tenno. I’ve since cut ties.”

“If you’re implying that Max of all people would do it--” Tin starts furiously.

“I am not ‘implying’ anything.” Zus answers calmly but with an edge. “I’m looking into all possible sources.” He turns back to Max. “You haven’t spoken to them, then?”

“Not in years.”

“You can go ahead and cross us four off the list,” Colakk snorts. “Buffy, Roo, Kitt, and I are Grineer, through-and-through. It has to be one of the traitors.”

“Stop calling them traitors,” Buffy chides. “They’ve done nothing to qualify for that name from you.”

“If anything, _you’re_ the suspect,” Roo murmurs so only Max and Tin can hear.

“I ran ahead because you cowards were taking too long to progress,” Colakk shouts.

“You have to exercise caution in these things, moron!” Max retaliates.

“If you all were too afraid to charge in like we owned the place to show those freakish machines who’s in town, I would instead.”

“Good luck with that,” Tineah snorts. 

“You shut your mouth.”

Roo looks like he’s about to lose it from the arguing. His leg jitters against the floor. Buffy has his head in his hands tiredly. Kitt is barely awake enough to keep track of what’s happening anymore. Colakk, however, is awake with a fiery pride that refuses to be extinguished.

“Enough!” Zus slams a fist on the table, startling Kitt and Buffy. “The traitor is someone in the squad, we know this. We’ll have to work it out as we go. For now, shut up about it while I think, and proceed as normal.” He glares at all of them. “We’ve been assigned another mission, anyways. Get to your barracks and prepare for it tomorrow. That is all.”

⁂

The Corpus voice sounds disinterested as they answer the ping. “State your name and business.”

“This is the insurgence agent,” a voice responds. 

Suddenly, the crewman sounds much more interested. “What news do you have?”

“There’s a mission dated for tomorrow. A raid on Archeron, set to eliminate all the Corpus forces there and to steal any data they can get their hands on.”

“And the Tenno?”

“Unsure of their positions. I know at least one will be sent. The other is heavily suspected, so she may be held behind.”

“Do you have an estimate on the number of troops being sent?”

“They’re not expecting retaliation, as they’re going stealth, so not many. Four, including myself.”

“You’re sure you’re going?”

“Yes. The commander wouldn’t have told me about it if I wasn’t scheduled to go along.”

“Excellent.” The crewman pauses as they tap away at a terminal. “I will alert Alad V of this, and send a larger contingency of Corpus and proxies. As a treat, I’ll even ask for a Jackal proxy.”

The Grineer hums amusedly. “I’ll be expecting nothing less.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The discussion.

“What happened?”

“Ambushed,” Buffy grunts. “There was a full squad of other Tenno there.”

“So, the intel was faulty?”

“I don’t think it was faulty,” Max interjects. “I think it was fed to us at a convenient time. They knew we’d want to get right out there to search.”

“We’ll talk about that later.”

Dodge is already heading over with a kit in hand.

“We’re getting to the bottom of this. Who was it that provided the intel?”

“Tinleah. She’d been there before. She--”

“Figures!” Colakk blurts. “The new recruit, the new traitor to their cause, is the one to lead us into harm.”

“Tinleah wouldn’t do that,” Max snaps. “She didn’t know.”

Tinleah shakes her head, eyes narrowed. “Who’s to say it wasn’t you? You’re the one that ran off as soon as we landed. You probably went and notified them that we were there, then ran back and faked being fearful.”

Colakk snarls. “I did not--”

“Shut up!” Roo blurts. He catches himself after a moment. “Please.”

“Roo is right. Arguing will get us nowhere.” Zus sighs deeply. “Once Kitt is taken care of, we’ll have a meeting to discuss this. Until then, no talk of it. Consider it a classified case.”

⁂

The room is dimly lit, shadows creeping further and further over everything they can. They’re sat at a makeshift interrogation table, still with pieces of armor and guns laying upon it.

The girls are purposefully separated for this. Kitt sits between them. Roo is on Max’s other side, while Buffy is on Tinleah’s right. Roo looks worried. Kitt is worn out from his injury, likely on the verge of dozing off as he sits upright. Colakk is, as per usual, scowling.

Zus enters and stands at the head of the table. He sets a stack of papers and a tablet down on the table’s surface.

“We’re here to discuss the events that took place yesterday.”

Everyone is silent.

“Again. Who gave us the intel?”

“I did,” Tinleah speaks.

“Were you aware there would be other Tenno there?”

“Absolutely not,” she answers honestly.

Colakk inhales to speak.

“Do not,” Zus barks. “I am not speaking to you.”

“Where did you get the information?”

“I heard about it just as I joined. Literally, the day before, I was in my Orbiter and the radio chatter came in. That’s how I heard.”

“Were they aware you had heard?”

“No, sir. I wasn’t speaking to them.”

Roo raises a hand. Zus nods to him. “If I may: we do the same thing nearly every day. We listen in to radio chatter to hear about Corpus movements and how the other Grineer counterparts are fairing.”

“Fair point,” Zus responds.

Max speaks. “So, if Tinleah was just listening in, how would they have known we’d be there? Someone else would have had to contact them to let them know we’d be going.”

“Good question,” Kitt sneers. “There’s a span of time after she heard the chatter and before she joined. Plenty of time for her to call and alert them.”

“Why in the hell are you so deadset that I’d try to mess something up as soon as I got it?” Tin shouts. “I have a family now! I’m with Max! Why would I want to screw that up?!”

“Because you have nothing to lose,” Colakk snarls.

“I believe her,” Roo interjects. “I’m with Maxis on this: I don’t think Tinleah did it.”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Colakk points to Roo furiously. “You’re not a fighter. You’re naive. Max and Tinleah have coddled you, so why would you hate them? Why would you hate your friends?”

Max coughs. “That’s literally how friendship works.”

Tin huffs. “He wouldn’t know anything about it.”

Roo smiles at her and winks.

“Could it have been someone outside of the squadron?” Buffy asks. “Nobody else besides command knew of it, really.”

“So, it had to be someone in the group,” Roo deducts as his face drains of color.

Eyes flash around the room as everyone waits for a reaction. Eventually, all eyes settle on Colakk.

His own eyes widen. “I’m a flesh and blood Grinner soldier! Why would I betray my own?!” He slams his fists on the table. “We’ve got two _defects_ sitting here; why aren’t we suspecting them?”

“Tinleah has something to lose. So does Max,” Buffy reasons. 

“But for them, a charge would result in eviction,” Kitt continues. “They’d simply be kicked out of the squadron and the cause. If any of the Grineer soldiers was to blame, they’d be executed on the spot.”

“A lot of soldiers already don’t value their lives much. To get this high up in the stream means they have something to live for,” Roo counters. “Why get this far and crash it all to the ground?”

“Maybe someone’s working with that defector in Steel Meridian,” Kitt says. “They’d do anything to take the Grineer as a whole down to ‘save’ any other defects.”

“Maxis?” Zus asks.

Her gut drops. “Yes, sir?”

“You had a former association with Steel Meridian, did you not?”

“A long time ago, yes. Back when I still worked under the Lotus and with the other Tenno. I’ve since cut ties.”

“If you’re implying that Max of all people would do it--” Tin starts furiously.

“I am not ‘implying’ anything.” Zus answers calmly but with an edge. “I’m looking into all possible sources.” He turns back to Max. “You haven’t spoken to them, then?”

“Not in years.”

“You can go ahead and cross us four off the list,” Colakk snorts. “Buffy, Roo, Kitt, and I are Grineer, through-and-through. It has to be one of the traitors.”

“Stop calling them traitors,” Buffy chides. “They’ve done nothing to qualify for that name from you.”

“If anything, _you’re_ the suspect,” Roo murmurs so only Max and Tin can hear.

“I ran ahead because you cowards were taking too long to progress,” Colakk shouts.

“You have to exercise caution in these things, moron!” Max retaliates.

“If you all were too afraid to charge in like we owned the place to show those freakish machines who’s in town, I would instead.”

“Good luck with that,” Tineah snorts. 

“You shut your mouth.”

Roo looks like he’s about to lose it from the arguing. His leg jitters against the floor. Buffy has his head in his hands tiredly. Kitt is barely awake enough to keep track of what’s happening anymore. Colakk, however, is awake with a fiery pride that refuses to be extinguished.

“Enough!” Zus slams a fist on the table, startling Kitt and Buffy. “The traitor is someone in the squad, we know this. We’ll have to work it out as we go. For now, shut up about it while I think, and proceed as normal.” He glares at all of them. “We’ve been assigned another mission, anyways. Get to your barracks and prepare for it tomorrow. That is all.”

⁂

The Corpus voice sounds disinterested as they answer the ping. “State your name and business.”

“This is the insurgence agent,” a voice responds. 

Suddenly, the crewman sounds much more interested. “What news do you have?”

“There’s a mission dated for tomorrow. A raid on Archeron, set to eliminate all the Corpus forces there and to steal any data they can get their hands on.”

“And the Tenno?”

“Unsure of their positions. I know at least one will be sent. The other is heavily suspected, so she may be held behind.”

“Do you have an estimate on the number of troops being sent?”

“They’re not expecting retaliation, as they’re going stealth, so not many. Four, including myself.”

“You’re sure you’re going?”

“Yes. The commander wouldn’t have told me about it if I wasn’t scheduled to go along.”

“Excellent.” The crewman pauses as they tap away at a terminal. “I will alert Alad V of this, and send a larger contingency of Corpus and proxies. As a treat, I’ll even ask for a Jackal proxy.”

The Grineer hums amusedly. “I’ll be expecting nothing less.”


End file.
